girl with a broken smile
by R. Kaye
Summary: AU. Carlton Lassiter's life is run by routine. One irregularity can screw it all up. Lassiet
1. Chapter 1

**So, long time no see, huh? I kinda gave up. But there are a few stories I started and never updated (which I found** **when cleaning my computer) so I'm gonna try to post a few before I trash them. They'll probably never get finished.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own** ** _psych._**

Carlton Lassiter lived by routine. He woke up every morning at six, jogged to the bakery five blocks down to get a muffin for breakfast, went back to his apartment to shower, and arrived at work no later than eight-fifteen.

Always.

He never woke up more than ten minutes late. He always got a banana nut muffin. He always made small talk with the owner, Karen, while he ate. He was always the first into the office.

His evenings varied. He came home to an empty apartment, had a stiff drink, ate dinner. He would then either go to the gun range or plan his reenactment team's placement or speak with a client or do paperwork. He would go to bed around eleven.

He was comfortable. It was habit. It was easy.

So even the littlest thing could knock everything off kilter.

The littlest thing came on a Thursday morning, in the form of a squirrel.

He had gone jogging that day, as usual, when he noticed the sheer number of squirrels he had seen. He noted it idly, thinking it must have just been the time of year. But when he arrived at the bakery, it was closed. Carlton waited for fifteen minutes, assuming that Karen, who had a three year old, was just running late. She was, and apologized for it.

"I'm sorry Carlton," she said, disappearing into the back and bringing out a very hot muffin.

"It's fine, Karen," he said, digging in as she poured two cups of coffee for them. He accepted the mug she offered him gratefully. "How are Richard and Iris?"

"Oh, same as yesterday, only Iris is insisting to wear the Spider-Man costume Richard insisted on getting her everywhere. We'll see how long that lasts," she laughed, and Carlton joined in.

"She must be a handful," he said, sipping his coffee. Karen looked at him, still smiling.

"It's worth every mess, ache, and pain to see her smile. You'll feel the same when you have one of your own, and you'll be late, too," she stated, stirring her coffee.

"Ah, to have one of my own requires a partner, so unless you're offering," he dropped off, letting her laugh and hit him. "Anyway, speaking of late, why were you late?"

"Oh, my friend's daughter flew up from Miami. I picked her up this morning. Her name's Juliet. She's gonna work the register here," Karen said.

"That's cool," Carlton said, finishing his coffee. He stood, handing Karen five dollars for the muffin and coffee.

"Be careful, huh?" she commanded, kissing his cheek as he hugged her. He rolled his eyes.

"I work at a law firm. It's not the most dangerous job, Karen," he said.

"Just promise, asshat," she demanded again.

"I promise. Now I'll go so you can open for real," he said.

"Okay. I'll see you tomorrow. Flip the sign on your way out," she said, disappearing into the back.

Carlton jogged home, ignoring the falling leaves, and showered quickly, trying to make up lost time. He was five minutes late as he ran out of his apartment. He flew down the road, passing Karen's shop. He noticed a pretty girl he had never seen before out side the shop.

In the split second he looked at the girl, it happened. A squirrel came out of seemingly nowhere. Carlton swerved.

He saw the pretty girl. His head was in her lap, and she was leaning over him, her blonde hair falling into her face. His head hurt.

"My head hurts," he croaked. She nodded, stroking his head cautiously.

"I know," she said soothingly. Her eyes are blue, he noted.

"How do you know?" he asked. She frowned.

"You hit a tree," she said. He liked her, this mystery girl.

"Oh," he said, remembering trying not to hit a squirrel.

"Yeah. Karen is calling an ambulance. Don't worry, Carlton. You're okay, just try to stay still," she said, stroking his hair.

"Okay," he said. "I'm guessing you're Juliet."

"Yeah, I am," she said, smiling down at him again. This time, though, it didn't quite reach her eyes.

Carlton wondered why.

"You're very pretty," he mumbled, the words jumbling as they came out of his mouth.

"You're very concussed," she replied, pushing his hair back to look at the size able lump that seemed to be throbbing into his brain.

"Those statements don't correlate. My concussed state has nothing to do with you being pretty. And funny I might add," he said, and started to close his eyes. "I'm tired."

"Carlton, no! Open your eyes! Do not go to sleep," Juliet urged, but her words fell on deaf ears.

Carlton vaguely remembered seeing red and blue lights illuminate her pretty face as he fell asleep.


	2. Chapter 2

He awoke with a major headache. The constant beeping was not helping. He slowly opened his eyes, the dim light searing his retinas. Once he realized he was in the hospital, everything hit at once.

"Ouch!" He had shifted slightly in the bed to look around and found out that he definitely had some bruised ribs. It came back in pieces. He remembered seeing a squirrel, crashing his car, and what he could only assume had been an angel. She had all of the characteristics of what he thought an angel should be. Blonde hair, bright blue eyes, ruby red lips, tanned skin, freckles across the nose. Perfection.

"Hey! You're awake!" He turned again, and saw his angel. She had entered the room, and now rushed to his bed.

"Holy shit," he wondered to himself, "am I dead?" But the pain he felt as he tried to sit up was enough to tell him he had not gone to heaven.

"Be careful, Carlton," she warned. "You've got a broken rib."

"What happened?" he asked, wanting the full story of what exactly brought him here.

"Well, Karen and I were outside, and you came by in your car," she said, taking a seat in the chair next to his bed. "Next thing we knew there was this God awful noise and we turned toward it and you had hit a tree."

I went and pulled you out of the car while Karen called an ambulance. You were pretty dazed, naturally. You mumbled for a little bit and passed out, but when we were in the ambulance you came to and started swearing about squirrels. And here we are, three hours later."

Carlton nodded slowly, trying not to exacerbate the pain in his head. She gave him a small smile.

"You had us really worried." He frowned.

"I'm sorry. I'll try not to do it again," he said, earning a laugh from her. "Juliet, right?"

She nodded. He smiled.

"It's nice to meet you, again, I guess," he said, extending the hand that did not hurt.

"It's nice to meet you, again, I guess," she affirmed, gingerly shaking his hand. Right then Karen burst into the room, Iris on her hip.

"Oh, thank God, you're awake," she said. She went to the unoccupied side of the bed and carefully sat on the edge. "Iris wanted to talk to you." The little girl, clad in her Spider-Man costume, touched his face.

"Are you okay, Cawlton?" she asked. He nodded and wrapped his good arm around her.

"Yeah, peanut, I'm okay," he said, squeezing her slightly in a pseudo hug. She nodded and kissed his cheek.

"Alright, baby, we get you back to daddy. I'll be back soon, Carlton," Karen said, putting her hand on his arm.

"No, Karen, don't worry about me. You should go back and open the shop," he said. "I'll be fine."

"I'm not leaving you alone, Carlton," she said, getting ready for an argument.

"I'll stay with him," Juliet spoke up. Carlton and Karen looked over at her.

"Are you sure?" Karen asked.

"You don't have to," Carlton said, silently hoping she would stay.

"I want to," Juliet insisted.

Five minutes and several goodbyes later, they were alone, waiting for the doctor.

"So," Carlton started," why'd you leave Miami?"

Juliet tensed up, but quickly relaxed. Carlton took notice.

"You don't have to tell me," he swiftly added. She shook her head.

"No, it's alright. It was just… time for a change. Karen was nice enough to offer me a job, and I've always wanted to see the Pacific Ocean, so, here I am."

Carlton stayed quiet for a moment.

"When I get discharged, would you like to go see it with me? The ocean," he asked. She smiled again, and he felt warmth radiate in the room.

"I'd like that," she said. "I really would."

"Great, so, maybe we could get dinner and…"

"Hey! Carly! You're alive!"

The door slammed open and in waltzed Shawn Spencer, one of the attorneys at Carlton's firm. Carlton felt his headache get worse. He and Carlton did not get along well, but Shawn never seemed to notice that.

"Yep, it's a shame," Carlton dead panned, very aware that he would most likely not be getting dinner with the lovely Juliet that night.

"Naw, it's great! I won the bet!" Shawn excitedly claimed. Carlton did not bother asking what bet. There probably wasn't one.

Shawn blabbered for a few minutes before noticing Juliet.

"Oh! Hi, how rude of me! I'm Shawn Spencer. I work with Carlton," he extended his hand.

"Juliet O'Hara," Juliet shook his hand. Shawn smiled widely at her. Carlton frowned, knowing the look on his face. He was interested in Juliet. Very interested.

"So, Carlton's girlfriend?" Shawn asked, still holding Juliet's hand. Carlton felt his face starting to flush, partially from embarrassment but also from anger. Juliet blushed slightly, glancing at Carlton.

"No, actually, friend of a friend," she said, letting go of Shawn's hand.

"Oh, well, a friend of a friend of my friend is a friend of mine!" Shawn said, adding a sing-songy tone. Juliet laughed.

The door opened for a third time and Carlton wracked his aching brain for anyone else that could possibly come in. Thankfully, it was his doctor.

"Hi, Mr. Lassiter, I'm Doctor West," the young man walked to the end of the bed and picked up his chart. "How are you feeling?"

"Maybe we should step out, Juliet. Coffee?" Shawn asked, winking at Carlton.

"Sure," Juliet said, standing up and getting her coat. She and Shawn left the room, Shawn shooting Carlton two thumbs up.

Carlton sighed.

"I feel pretty shitty, doc."


End file.
